Can someone please explain to me how it works!!?

Ive heard so many different stories!

Whoever comes top can pick who they want to play??

does the winner go straight through to OT??

how the hell does it work!!??

[urlhttp://www.superleague.co.uk/page.php?id=360[/url

so even less of an advantage finishing top than other seasons bar you can choose your opponent?!

so both finalists will be playing the week before the final!? no rest for anyone!

I have to admit it's the first time I've been bothered to look at the system. There seems to be nothing, other than home advantage - which I guess is reasonably significant, to be gained from finishing top 2. Finishing top only gives you the very limited "selection" option which to me doesn't seem to be much value when the likes of Hudds, HKR, etc are so evenly matched.
No week off before the final either and a minimum of two playoff games -no matter where you finish. I suspect this was the driving force behind the format.
My own opinion is that 8 teams out of 14 is too many, I'm in agreement with Phil Clarke on this one (possibly a first). The idea was to increase interest for the lower teams at the end of the season and give them all something to play for, but this year only a couple of weeks ago there were 10 teams with realistic chances of making the old top 6, surely that's good enough? Especially with the truly dire season that the bottom 4 clubs have had - do they really deserve to have a crack in the playoffs?
If the RFL were really interested in keeping the competition open then perhaps they should once again re-think the scheduling of the CC semi-finals?

The teams vying for 7th and 8th have lost more league games than they have won.

Surely that is not a playoff calibre team.

I agree with the tache, top 8 is too many.

Should just be the top two into the play off's - save us all some time and money

It is interesting to hear a lot of comments along the lines of "in this new format everyone's got a chance". Usually in after match interviews with Brian Noble for some reason. I was thinking how much more of a chance do Wigan need? They've had one off games to make a GF the last two years.

I agree too. Should always be half or less than half of all teams. That way it's usually only teams who have won more than they have lost.

Bilkos site is very good, although he hasn't updated the positions yet this week, it does give a very good explanation of how it works.

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It's also very useful for knowing which games are on tv and internet.

Which is point I made when everyone was kissing Salfords hairy a*se when the finished within 'the elite' .

Updated now.
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Basically gives more of an advantage if you finish in the top 4, only Leeds,St Helens,Hull Kr, Huddersfield will have the week rest in between depending on the outcome of those matches.

Truly excellent work.

seconded

Given that a team only has a choice of 2 teams, likely 3rd & 4th, how embarassing would it be to beat 4th in week 1, then choose them and lose in week3?

Also seems possible/likely that first and second (Leeds/Saints) will play the same sides (Hudds/HKR) twice at home in 3 weeks with a week off inbetween.

Hmmm...

There has been a SL Play Off system in place now for the past 11 seasons.

That's a total of 55 games played with home advantage (+ the 11 GFs)

Play Off's - Home Wins 39 (71%)

Play Off's - Away Wins 16 (29%)

There has yet to be a single season where all the Play Off results went with home advantage.

There have been:

7 that went 4 - 1 with home advantage
3 that went 3 - 2 with home advantage
1 that went 2 - 3 with home advantage

Of course the predictable (?) away win/s may come in the 5 V 8 and 6 V 7 games and week three could still be a less than ideal repeat of week 1 (depending on the pick) but history shows it's all on the day.

Why oh why do we have to mess about with rule and competition changes?

Because we'd be playing 15 a side with lineouts otherwise

TVOC as ever the facts are there and accurate - so perhaps using the word 'likely' was a bit risky.

Still I reckon I may well be right on this occasion despite the numbers.

Quote from John Wilkin on the new playoff system

"I really hate the new play-off format. I have to start kicking the dog when i hear about it because it annoys me so much. I have contenplated suicide because i hate change and wish it would just stay the same. I really, really dislike the new format. "

I had a feeling there was at least one 'upset' each year in the play offs before the final and a quick check backed it up.

We're going from a five game qualifier to an eight game qualifier so the opportunities for an 'upset' are also considerably increased.

It's a new format though so we'll have to wait and see how predictable it is.

I thought the highest place team had pick of all 3?

Quote ="#1leedsfan"I thought the highest place team had pick of all 3?'" Nope. www.engagesl.com/play_offs.php

Quote ="#1leedsfan"I thought the highest place team had pick of all 3?'" Nope. www.engagesl.com/play_offs.php

Quote ="FoxyRhino"Nope. www.engagesl.com/play_offs.php'" Cheers for that makes it much clearer to understand the semis, reading on there basically you win your first round match-exempt from being picked.

Quote ="FoxyRhino"Nope. www.engagesl.com/play_offs.php'" Cheers for that makes it much clearer to understand the semis, reading on there basically you win your first round match-exempt from being picked.